‘Scream 7’ Review: “Fan VS Stalker” Theme Helps Revamp Franchise

SPOILER NOTICE:

The following movie review does not contains direct spoilers for the film Scream 7, however general information in regards to the plot, characters, key climax points, prior films in the franchise and themes explored in the film will be heavily discussed. Please read at your own discretion, or after seeing the film in theaters.

As February 1997 came to a close, the hit slasher flick Scream released just two months prior was sitting comfortably as the 8th highest-grossing film in theaters at the time; rom-coms Fools Rush In and Jerry Maguire banked off the Valentine’s Day vibes, meanwhile Vegas Vacation, special re-releases in the Star Wars franchise, Absolute Power and Dante’s Peak served to the sappy-free.

Scream stood out amongst those aforementioned films due to its fresh take on the whodunnit mystery, giving gore galore to the diehard fans of horror and a “Final Girl” who has now helped spearhead the series for an impressive three decades and counting — many props to Neve Campbell for displaying dedication rivaled only by Jamie Lee Curtis.

As February 2026 now comes to a close, the newly-released Scream 7 hopes to be the next hit slasher flick in a series that now has its star back at the helm of things — Campbell infamously declined returning for 2023’s well-received Scream VI — and some hopeful additions to the plot that tease future installments and help to validate Scream overall with a seat on the Mount Rushmore of Horror next to Halloween, Friday The 13th and Nightmare On Elm Street.

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This time around, Sidney Prescott is now Sidney Evans and has decided to bury any trace of her life in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California for a no-frills normal life in the equally-fictional town of Pine Grove, Indiana. Here, Sid is happily married to another Mark — Patrick Dempsey’s “Kincaid” is out; Joel McHale’s “Evans” is in — and a mother to three girls. The eldest, 17-year-old Tatum, is the franchise’s attempt to carry on the torch should Campbell ever decide to hang it up for good. At 25, rising star Isabel May (Alexa & Katie) does a convincing job playing a teen in angst, and has great co-star support in Jasmin Savoy Brown (Yellowjackets) and Mason Gooding (Love, Victor) who both are back as steadily surviving twins Mindy and Chad, respectively. Their return comes with open arms right alongside longtime franchise darling Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), the only character to appear in every single Scream film to date.

Introduced with fanfare debuts in Scream (2022) before taking the trek to NYC in Scream VI, both Brown and Gooding were expected to carry on a “Core Four” pact alongside Sidney’s former franchise replacements, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega). As fate would have it though, real-life comments made on social media in 2023 led to an unceremonious exit by Barrera. Meanwhile, co-star Ortega showed solidarity by focusing on productions for the highly-anticipated 2024 release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and a second season in 2025 for her beloved Netflix series Wednesday. Although chemistry between the four worked quite effortlessly, there’s room for a “power of three” of sorts to make things continue on without the slashing sisters. Also, we’re just happy seeing the sole melanated representation of Scream making it to see another sequel. They’re joined by one other Black beauty in the form of newcomer Celeste O’Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) as one of Tatum’s best friends named Chloe.

We won’t say if they all make it to see Scream 8, but we’ll confirm all three certainly ate when it came to representing for us.

Speaking of a possible eighth film, there’s not only a great chance for it due to high opening week projections, but the Ghostface reveal this time around also opens up a whole new lane of possibilities to where the franchise can go. With Sidney chronologically going up against her boyfriend (Scream), his mother (Scream 2), her half-brother (Scream 3), her cousin (Scream 4) and then crazed fans of her life story (Scream 5), it feels almost impossible to think she’d still have any more opps left. In Scream 7 however, you understand the difference between what it means to be obsessed with the art versus the artist. In the 2022 “requel,” dual killers Richie and Amber credit their killing spree to simply being bored with the last Stab film and hoping to reignite a reboot with their “source material.”

The killer(s?) this time around are sure to surprise many, possibly leading to polarizing opinions, but their motive is an interesting one. Essentially, it’s driven by Sidney herself and less about the infamous based-on-a-true-story tale that’s made her into a star with unrequited feelings of fame. Even as her 15 minutes have seemingly come and gone, there’s someone dead set on making Sidney pay for simply not playing by the rules of what it means to be the perfect victim. Signing autographs, kissing babies and becoming the face for the trauma-stricken is what they want of her; small town PTA mom just doesn’t cut it.

Our current obsession with all things AI made way for the greatest hits of Ghostface to return in cameo form, including fan favorites Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf), brother Roman (Scott Foley) and OG standout Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard). However, we’re still not completely convinced the latter is gone for good, or ever was if we’re being honest. Plot holes leave way for an ultimate Scream 8 show-off that could easily take the “Cult Of Stu” storyline to even greater lengths.

Scream 7 is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the full trailer below: